If you know you are going to be selling your home soon, the thought must be going through your head of whether you should make some changes before you sell. In this situation you need to identify the things in your home that need to be updated to make your home more desirable. Then you need to find out what it will cost to make those improvements. One thing you shouldn’t do is rush in. You might think it will be fun to bring out the sledgehammers and get into some demolition. But you could be in for a world of trouble if you don’t have the skills to do it right. And the last thing you want to do is end up making everything less valuable at sale time. Here are some of the things you should consider first.
- Get some opinions: There are a lot of things to consider when you do a renovation, and people who are in the industry, like Your Property Profits, know exactly what kind of problems that people run into when they go it alone. What you need to know is, what is the value of your home currently? What type of renovations will appeal to your market? And if it is even worth it to do the renovation in the first place. If you are not experienced in determining the budget for renovations, it is very likely that you will underestimate the final bill, just because of all the variables. Having an expert opinion could save you a lot of trouble.
- Hit the Obvious Areas First: Once again with help you can identify what areas stand out as unattractive, outdated, or damaged. You will do yourself the most favours by fixing these areas first, hopefully they are not high cost repairs so you can save some of your budget for adding some spice.
- Upgrade the Highlights: When people look for a new property, they remember the kitchen, the master bed/bath, and sometimes the living area. The other rooms are usually not deal breakers. These days people are looking for kitchens with high end features, and some version of stone countertops. And lots of light. In the Master they are looking for a luxurious ensuite bathroom and big closets. These are the areas that you are going to get some attention. So, if you aren’t doing a full reno, start there.
- Paint: One of the easiest things you can do to upgrade your house, is to simply update the colours and freshen up the room with some new paint. If you are good at painting, this can be a real money saver
Whatever you do, make sure you discuss it with other people first and do your research. There are a lot of great ideas out there to be discovered as flipping houses has become almost a sport. If you do have friends in the trades, or in real estate, you will find their advice to be invaluable. But at the end of the day it is up to you to do what you want to do. Of course, if you make the house too nice, you won’t want to leave it.